Maker Faire 2017

It’s all about the attitude, the willingness to learn, and the sense of community. Robin Hartley, at the UK’s premier maker show

Maker Faire UK is the largest Maker Faire in the UK and draws crowds from all over the world to take part in a weekend long celebration of maker culture. Diversity is the main theme of every Maker Faire. You may think that it’s all about circuits and code, but if you look deeper you can see that there are many projects that serve other purposes. 3D printers provide makerspaces with the tool to print custom limbs for disabled children, musicians bend the circuits of toys, never designed to make music, into other-worldly instruments, and children learn how to become future makers.

At every Maker Faire UK there are big names, and this year we saw the Raspberry Pi Foundation, CPC, and Kitronik rub shoulders with the general public. Everyone, no matter their age or skill, was a ‘peer, we are all equal in our pursuit of learning how things work, and how we can use them in our next project. It was humbling to see so many children there, learning to build their own projects, and quite a few showing the older generations how to realise a great idea.

Going around the exhibitors it was clear to see that there are still two boards that inspire the makers more than any other device. They are the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino. The Raspberry Pi was seen controlling robots, trail cameras, and even a light sculpture that represented the heartbeats of the makers at the event. The Arduino was seen controlling open source 3D printers and laser cutters. These boards are part of maker community and Maker Faires are the reflection of what a community is interested in– with each changing year we see these boards being used in new ways.

Being at Maker Faire UK is a chance to sample these new ideas, and to speak to the people who created them. Everyone shares their ideas and lessons learnt. It’s just what being a maker is all about.